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Jarvis drivers like bike lanes too

Rob Ford says he’s scrapping the Jarvis St. bike lanes because citizens have complained about them, so the Toronto Cyclists Union took a camera to Jarvis and asked people who actually use the street what they think. In one hour of filming, they found only one driver who wanted the lanes removed.

The TCU has posted a video of their informal polling operation here, and the organization claims all drivers they spoke to are featured. They only spoke to about a half-dozen motorists so the results should be taken with a grain of salt, but the video does prove that despite the bike vs. car rhetoric in this town, it’s easy to find drivers who don’t mind sharing the road with bikes.

“We wanted to put a face to who uses Jarvis, and show that there isn’t a huge public outcry against it,” said the TCU’s Andrea Garcia. “There’s no actual reason to remove the bike lane. The street is working fine for everybody.”

The facts appear to be on the TCU’s side. A non-partisan city staff report tabled last month found that since the lanes were installed last year, travel times for cars along Jarvis between Charles St. and Queen East have increased by only two minutes in peak morning hours and between three to five minutes in peak evening hours.

Staff said much of that delay could be eliminated by the introduction of an advanced left-turn lane at Jarvis and Queen. Meanwhile bike traffic on Jarvis has tripled, indicating there is a demand for this piece of cycling infrastructure.

Despite the seeming success of the Jarvis lanes, at a meeting of the public works committee last month Councillor John Parker tabled a last-minute motion to remove them. Now the fate of the Jarvis lanes will go to a City Council vote on July 12 or 13, and the TCU is asking people who want to keep the lanes to come out to City Hall and show their support.

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